


and all that jazz

by aceofsparrows



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Other, Tags Subject to Change, Theatre kid AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 21:49:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30062049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceofsparrows/pseuds/aceofsparrows
Summary: For decades, the theatre department of Wildemount Academy has been the school's crown jewel. This season's spring musical is "Chicago", and expectations are high. Who knew high school theatre could be such an adventure?* * *a what-if-they-were-theatre-kids au featuring both the Mighty Nein & Vox Machina, as well as various of NPCs and guest characters from both campaigns, and plenty of shenanigans.
Relationships: Beauregard Lionett/Yasha, Fjord/Jester Lavorre, Keyleth/Vax'ildan (Critical Role), Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III/Vex'ahlia, Scanlan Shorthalt/Pike Trickfoot, Yeza Brenatto/Nott | Veth Brenatto
Comments: 5
Kudos: 37





	and all that jazz

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!  
> This is my first CR fic, and honestly I think it's such a great one to start with. I've been bingeing campaign two for the past five months, and started watching live recently, and when I saw Casu post about this idea I instantly loved it. It's got a little modern au flavor, a little bit of canon-universe flavor, and an abundance of theatre kid shenanigans. Considering the fact that cast themselves are theatre nerds, I feel like it's kind of the perfect au for Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein. 
> 
> I have 22 chapters planned, and am posting as I write. Updates might be a little sporadic, but will mostly be consistent; at least one chapter a month is what I'm aiming for. 
> 
> Lastly, much of the plot here will mirror themes & events in canon. Therefore, if you're not staying up to date or are not caught up with both campaigns (and don't want spoilers), I would recommend coming back to this when you are up to date! No hard feelings :)
> 
> **I will be putting a content/trigger warning in the notes before any chapters that contain potentially triggering material.**
> 
> Enjoy!

“Caleb, I don’t usually say this, but I think this is a terrible idea.” 

It is Tuesday, exactly 3:47pm, and Caleb Widogast is writing his name on a piece of paper tacked to a cork board. 

“You’re always saying I should put myself out there more, are you not, Nott?” Caleb asks, crossing the “T” in his name and replacing the pencil carefully on its ledge. “This is just about as far out there as I can get.” He sighs, looking down at the halfling girl beside him. Nott has crossed her arms, giving him a look. “And besides, I have always loved the theatre as an audience member and from reading it. How different can acting in the piece itself really be?” 

Nott shakes her head, button earrings swaying slightly. “I was thinking you could join a quiet club, like chess or something book related. Do you really want to be out on stage, in _front_ of people?” 

Caleb sighs again and starts walking back down the hallway, long strides slow so Nott can keep up behind him. “I don’t know, Nott. But as you’ve told me many times, the only way to find out is to do it. So I’m doing it.” 

“Sometimes I feel like you only listen to like a third of what I say, Caleb.” 

“Maybe so, Nott.” 

“You’re not going to bend on this, are you?” 

“No, Nott.” 

Nott huffs, throwing up her hands. “Agh, forget it.” They pass a clock mounted high on the wall and she suddenly stops. “Fuck! Shit! I was supposed to meet Yeza ten minutes ago!” 

“Tuesday study date?” Caleb asks, a smile creeping at the corners of his mouth. Yeza is Nott’s beloved boyfriend, and they always meet on Tuesdays during their free period to study for Advanced Chemistry together. 

“I’ll see you in Lit, Caleb!” Nott says quickly, giving a wave over her shoulder as she turns and hurries back down the hallway. Caleb returns the wave, shaking his head as his smile grows just slightly in fondness. 

Some things change often in this world, but there are always those that stay blissfully the same.

* * *

“… So I told him to fuck off, obviously, because at this point he was just being shitty, ya know?” 

It’s been almost two weeks since that Tuesday, and the people eating lunch next to Caleb, Nott, and Yeza are being loud. 

“Did you punch him?” A blue tiefling girl with curly blue hair asks the human girl telling the story, looking strangely very invested in the tale for someone with such a sweet face. 

“I mean, duh,” the storyteller says. “Got in a good right hook, too— he totally didn’t see it coming. My dad was pretty pissed when he heard about it but at this point I don’t really care anymore.” The storyteller— a lean, dark-skinned girl wearing slacks and her tie loose around her neck— frowns, picking at her lunch. 

“Beau, if you need help with your dad, you know you can always ask Jess and I.” There’s a half-orc boy sitting with the two girls who has a broad chest and short dark hair pulled back into a small, messy bun. His brow is furrowed with worry, and Beau slowly uncrosses her arms, sliding down a bit in her seat. 

“Thanks, Fjord. Seriously. It’s fine, though. He hasn’t been bad since break.” The boy— Fjord— nods, and after a pause the conversation shifts to discussing some new show the other girl— presumably Jess— has started watching. 

Caleb pulls his gaze away from watching the other table to find Nott and Yeza both looking at him. 

“What?” 

Nott raises her eyebrows. “Those are theatre kids, Caleb. Are you sure you want to be in a show with some girl who punched a guy?” 

Caleb shrugs. “You’ve punched at least two people since I met you, Nott.” Nott rolls her eyes, but Caleb continues. “And besides, if the guy needed punching then good for her.” 

“I think they look pretty cool, Veth,” Yeza says, nudging his girlfriend and giving her a fond smile. “Maybe you should audition too! Theatre club is supposed to be really fun.” 

“I— no, Yeza. I will support Caleb in whatever he wants to get himself into, but _I_ am not getting into theatre.” 

“Okay, Veth.” 

* * *

Finally, almost three weeks after he signed up, Caleb auditions for the school musical. It’s an odd experience, but everything seems to go well. Although he’s not in any of the choir classes, he knows the music director— a high-spirited gnomish man called Mr. Shorthalt— from playing violin for chamber ensembles. Caleb sings well, and the next morning he’s privately thrilled to see his name carefully printed on the list of callbacks under “Billy Flynn”. 

Callbacks are held the next day after school, and Caleb waves goodbye to Nott and Yeza and makes his way to the auditorium, whistling tunelessly and reading a book on quantum physics as he walks. 

“Jester! Give me my fucking shoe back!” A voice shouts, and Caleb looks up from his book just in time to dodge someone who comes running out of the double doors, another person hot on their heels. He turns, and realizes it’s the girls they’ve been sitting near at lunch recently: Beau, and Jester (who the others often call “Jess” or “Jessie”). Beau gives chase a little longer, but Jester is shorter and giggling, and eventually the taller girl manages to wrestle her black heel back from her friend and the two of them wander back into the auditorium past Caleb like nothing even happened. 

Inside the auditorium is abuzz with activity, thirty or so students all chatting and stretching in small, social clumps. Caleb recognizes a few people from his classes— an auburn-haired dwarven girl from his gym class, the aloof drow boy with a shock of floofy white hair who’s the TA for his Physics class— but doesn’t know anyone well enough to want to strike up a conversation. Socializing has never been his strong suit, especially in a room full of people he barely knows when his nerves are already being tested. They didn’t give him anything to prepare, and while that won’t be a problem, necessarily, it’s not ideal either. 

There’s a seat open in the audience a row behind a few bags stacked, and Caleb sits carefully, tucking himself back into his book while he waits for one of the adults to begin things. Maybe if he just makes himself small and stays quiet, no one will try to talk to him… 

“Do you want a donut?”

Well, _Scheiße_. 

Caleb looks up from his book to find that blue tiefling girl staring back at him. She’s wearing large, round glasses that frame her round face well, and grinning much too widely at Caleb. He blinks owlishly. 

“Uh, _wie bitte_?” He asks, and the girl— Jester, he remembers— tilts her head like a little bird. 

“I said, ‘do you want a donut’? I have, like, a bunch in my bag because I always bring extras, and you looked a little lonely so I thought you might want one.” She’s still smiling, and Caleb’s brain is somehow racing while also short-circuiting at the same time. Jester bites the corner of her lip, only slightly ruffled by his lack of a coherent response. “Also Beau and I maybe felt just a _little_ bit bad about almost running into you earlier, so, you know, apology pastry?” 

“You mean _you_ felt bad. I’m not gonna apologize for you stealing my shit,” Beau says from next to Jester, and Caleb wonders how he didn’t notice the three of them sitting down in front of him, since now he sees Fjord a seat or two away from Jester watching the exchange with mild curiosity poorly hidden by faux nonchalance. Beau frowns at her friend, arms crossed in what seems to be her default position of defense. “Also, Jester, you _really_ need to bring something other than pastries for a snack. You need, like, a salad.” 

Jester ignores Beau, gaze still trained on Caleb. “So do you want the donut? I promise it’s not one of the stale ones.”

Finally shaking off his shock, Caleb clears his throat, closing his book carefully. “Um, sure. _Dankeschön_ ,” he nods quickly, taking the pink-sprinkled pastry with two fingers from Jester. It’s soft and slightly sticky, but surprisingly tasty. 

“I’m Jester, by the way, and this is Fjord.” She gestures to the half-orc, who gives a wave, then the girl on her other side. “And that’s Beau.” Beau nods in Caleb’s direction, arms still crossed. “You’re that new kid who sits near us at lunch sometimes, right? You’re always reading or talking to those two halflings. You seem really smart; your books are always really big. Beau reads a lot too. What is your name? Why didn’t you audition for the play in the fall? You have an interesting accent; where are you from?” Jester talks faster than anyone Caleb’s ever met, and he’s not sure how many of those questions he can answer. Is he even supposed to answer? 

Jester looks at him expectantly. Oddly, her pushiness is somehow endearing. Caleb swallows his bite of donut, looking down at the pastry in his hand. 

“Uh, my name is Caleb, and yes, I have sat near to you and your friends often. I like to read, _ja_ , but I don’t know if I’d call myself smart; there is so much to learn in the world, and I still know very little of it.” He looks up at Jester, who’s tilted her head again. She’s one of the most intent listeners he’s met; Nott is the only person who looks at him with that much rapt focus. “I, uh, I did not audition for the play in the fall because I did not know about it.” 

“Cool!” Jester says simply, grinning. “Nice to meet you, Caleb!” 

“And you, Jester.” 

There’s an awkward pause in which Caleb carefully finishes his donut, but before he can go back to his book Beau asks him another question. 

“So, Caleb. What’d you get called back for?” 

“Billy Flynn,” he answers shortly, slightly unsure whether it’s something to be proud of, or even if they’re supposed to tell other people. Then again, anyone could have looked at the list that had been posted, so he supposes it’s probably okay.

Beau gives him a surprisingly approving nod. “Nice. Jess and I are here for a couple of the Cell Block Tango girls, and Roxie and Velma.” 

“Her for Velma, me for Roxie,” Jester hurriedly adds, as if that’s an important point of clarification. 

“Ah, _ja_ , I assumed so,” Caleb assures her, and the tiefling smiles toothily again. Fjord looks like he’s about to add something as well, but just then the two adults at the front of the room clap their hands to get the swarm of teenagers’ attention, and Jester and Beau turn to look at them. 

“Alright everyone, settle down, please,” says Mr. Shorthalt from where he stands at the edge of the stage. The elvish woman next to him— the theatre teacher, Ms. Vessar— stands on the ground in front of the stage, making them roughly eye-level of each other.

“We’re thrilled to have you all here for callback auditions,” Ms. Vessar says, hands clasped at her chest. Caleb’s only met her a few times, but she’s got a certain grace and gravitas to her that he admires. She also looks like she could sucker punch anyone who crossed her, which helps as well. 

“We’re going to start with the song cuts-- in groups and then solo-- and then move on to scene work,” Mr. Shorthalt says, reading from a clipboard. “I want everyone to pay attention and know what’s coming next; we have a lot to get through and we don’t want to waste anyone’s time.” 

“Definitely not.” The two teachers give each a look, then smile. “Alright, let’s begin! All the ladies called for Roxie, please gather around the piano for vocal sides.” 

The room erupts into chatter once more as everyone gets themselves settles, and Jester grins and gives a little wave to Beau, Caleb, and Fjord before she skips away towards the piano, vocal book in hand. Caleb blinks, shaking his head slightly. _Time to get to business, Widogast_ , he tells himself. 

And they do just that. 

* * *

**WILDEMOUNT ACADEMY THEATRE DEPARTMENT**

**SPRING 835 MUSICAL: CHICAGO**

**CAST LIST**

Jester Lavorre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Roxie Hart

Beauregard Lionett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Velma Kelly

Fjord Stone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amos Hart

Caleb Widogast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Billy Flynn

[ thank you to all who auditioned ]

[ please see Mr. Shorthalt or Ms. Vessar for any further questions or concerns ]

**Author's Note:**

> My CR tumblr is @mightymightynein if you'd like to come say hi! Comments & asks are always appreciated. 
> 
> May the Traveler be with you! 💚


End file.
